Sim Eighteen, 2012
9/21 - 3-2 WIN vs DC - Ward hit a solo shot (3) and Lust hit a 2-run homer (7) as Skip Burns K'd 11 in 7.2 innings to pick up his 13th win. Bill Rapier notched his 23rd save.
9/22 - 6-4 WIN vs DC - Chris Curcio pitched well and survived poor defensive play to win his 13th game. Curcio allowed 4 runs (1 ER) on 7 hits in 8 innings, and Rapier pitched a perfect 9th for save #24. Young SS Leon Rego hit a pair of doubles, Lust homered (8) for the second straight day, and Bick Horizon finally hit his 30th homer to power the offense.
9/23 - Off Day
9/24 - 4-0 WIN @ Massachusetts - Lowell Stang pitched a shutout for the 3rd time this year and 15th time in his career, allowing just 3 hits along the way. Lust was 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI, and Bick Horizon stole his 1st base of the season.
9/25 - 7-5 loss @ Massachusetts - Hector Moreno was hammered for 5 ER on 4 hits in just two thirds of an inning, but we came back to tie the game at 5. Then Mikey Welch allowed a run in his 3.2 innings of work to take the loss. Former Penn prospect Ronnie Walker Jr. drove in 5 runs against us. Commons and Trosclair each had a pair of hits for us.
9/26 - 6-2 WIN @ Massachusetts - Skip Burns was injured and will miss 1-2 weeks! But, Joseph Melbourne came in and pitched 4 innnings of no-hit ball in releif, and we still win the game. Lust, Commons and Horizon each had a pair of hits, with Horizon's 31st homer, a 3-run shot, being the highlight. Anthony Pooler added 3 singles and his 50th RBI. It is his first 50-RBI season in his 13-year career.
9/27 - 3-1 WIN @ New York - Hults returns from injury to hold the Barons to just 1 ER on 8 hits in 7 innings, and Rapier nails down his 25th save. Trosclair had an RBI double, and Brett Ward hit his 2nd homer of the sim and 4th of the season.
9/28 - 7-5 WIN @ New York - Chris Curcio allowed 1 ER on 8 hits in 6 innings, but the bullpen tried to give the game away. Eventually, Rapier got the final out an picked up his 26th save. Salguero earned his 10th win with a scoreless inning and a third. Horizon had a homer (32) and 3 RBI (115), and Chris Trosclair hit his 8th homer as well.
9/29 - 9-1 WIN @ New York - Manny Talamantez was 2-for-4 with a 2-run homer (15) and 2 runs scored, and Brett Ward was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. C-Mart made a bid for the post-season roster with a 2-for-3, 3 R, 2 RBI day. However, his .139 average may keep him off the squad. Lowell Stang didn't allow a run for the 3rd start in a row, lowering his ERA to 1.96. He was 2 outs away from the shutout when he was pulled. Reliever Adam Guerrero allowed a 9th inning homer.
9/30 - 2-1 WIN @ Maryland - Ward, Chipman and Thom each had 2 hits for Pennsylvania. Moreno allowed 1 ER on 2 hits in 6 innings, and 4 relievers held Maryland scoreless from then on. Rapier got his 27th save.
Standings
Code:
North
Team W L PCT GB ST L10
Maryland 99 60 .623 - L1 6-4
Pennsylvania 94 65 .591 5.0 W5 9-1
New York 89 70 .560 10.0 L4 3-7
Maine 74 85 .465 25.0 L6 2-8
D.C. 68 91 .428 31.0 W1 4-6
Massachusetts 58 101 .365 41.0 W2 6-4
South
Team W L PCT GB ST L10
Virginia 92 67 .579 - W3 6-4
Mississippi 91 68 .572 1.0 W2 8-2
Louisiana 88 71 .553 4.0 L3 6-4
North Carolina 88 71 .553 4.0 L2 4-6
Tennessee 72 87 .453 20.0 W1 5-5
Florida 41 118 .258 51.0 L1 1-9
With 3 games left and a 5 game lead over NY,
the Pennsylvania Freedom are in the playoffs as a wildcard team for the second time in 3 years. Down south, Mississippi is a win away from clinching.
Pitching
Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K
s1 C. Curcio 31 31 13 9 0 3.41 211.1 226 92 80 17 43
s2 H. Moreno 10 10 1 3 0 4.67 52.0 52 31 27 15 3
s3 A. Nietz 9 9 6 3 0 3.28 57.2 51 22 21 19 17
s4 M. Wilmot 9 6 1 2 0 4.03 38.0 39 18 17 5 17
s5 T. Northrup 60 1 0 3 1 4.37 47.1 47 24 23 12 15
mu B. Gingerich 0 0 0 0 0 -.-- 0.0 0 0 0 0 0
mr M. Hart 62 0 2 3 7 3.38 58.2 58 24 22 18 21
mr J. Melboure 39 0 3 7 15 4.34 37.1 32 20 18 19 15
mr J. Halvorsen 17 0 1 2 1 5.09 23.0 19 17 13 16 7
mr A. Guerrero 2 0 0 0 0 5.40 1.2 2 1 1 0 0
su J. Salguero 83 0 10 4 0 3.01 95.2 100 42 32 18 38
su M. Welch 39 0 6 4 1 2.10 55.2 42 13 13 5 21
cl B. Rapier 81 0 1 3 27 2.41 82.0 65 22 22 22 36
L. Stang 36 36 19 6 0 1.96 248.1 198 60 54 31 117
R. Hults 32 32 18 6 0 2.14 202.1 169 54 48 52 97
IR S. Burns 34 34 13 10 0 3.20 225.0 151 82 80 65 212
With Burns out and the division wrapped up, I can't afford to send Stang or Hults out there, even though Stang's got a good shot at 20-win season. So, Maryland fans will get to see Nietz/Wilmot/Northrup this week.
Batting
Code:
Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG
1 SS L. Rego 10 13 5 4 0 0 2 4 2 0 .385 .500 .692
2 LF W. Chipman 74 137 33 7 0 3 9 24 5 15 .241 .273 .358
3 3B C. Trosclair 121 227 61 10 0 8 36 33 22 27 .269 .356 .419
4 2B A. Silvia 89 132 29 7 0 1 12 11 10 10 .220 .274 .295
5 C A. Slaughter 53 110 24 3 0 1 7 5 3 21 .218 .246 .273
6 CF M. Antunez 13 15 3 1 0 0 2 1 2 3 .200 .294 .267
7 1B P. Galyon 59 82 16 4 0 5 14 10 3 16 .195 .247 .427
8 RF V. Tay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .--- .--- .---
B. Handel 67 87 27 6 0 0 7 21 3 9 .310 .330 .379
L. Commons 124 446 134 36 2 8 65 73 58 15 .300 .383 .444
B. Lust 154 564 166 26 3 8 46 77 49 57 .294 .358 .394
B. Ward 154 553 155 15 2 4 44 62 75 70 .280 .370 .336
F. Thom 147 519 145 27 4 8 56 59 30 56 .279 .321 .393
M. Rodriguez 154 506 135 23 1 6 42 62 43 6 .267 .323 .352
A. Pooler 128 428 112 20 0 1 50 30 18 63 .262 .293 .315
B. Horizon 156 574 149 26 0 32 115 75 39 11 .260 .302 .472
M. Talamantez 151 482 104 16 0 15 59 52 43 49 .216 .282 .342
C. Martinez 41 72 10 3 0 2 12 6 3 4 .139 .179 .264
M. Pearson 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 0 .000 1.000 .000
Nice lineup! And check out the #8 hitter...
Actually, I'll go out on a limb and say this lineup is better than the one the team had when I took it over... Or about the same at least. Once again, I just can't risk any injuries. And, I gotta get the real heroes like Pat Galyon and Viktor Tay into the lineup sometimes, right?
Rankings
Batting AVG: .250 (9th)
Homeruns: 114 (18th)
Walks: 439 (8th)
Stolen Bases: 71 (20th)
Runs Scored: 633 (10th)
Pitching ERA: 2.96 (3rd)
Opponents AVG: .233 (7th)
HRs Allowed: 100 (3rd)
Walks Allowed: 313 (3rd)
Runs Allowed: 522 (3rd)
Back to the .250!
Upcoming Games
Code:
Date Opponent Probable Starter Season Series
10/1 @ Maryland Admirals Alphonse Nietz (6-3, 3.28) Mry leads 8-7
10/2 @ Maryland Admirals Michael Wilmot (1-2, 4.03)
10/3 @ Maryland Admirals Tracey Northrup (0-3, 4.37)
All I want to do in this series is stay healthy. I'm running a small risk by starting my only lefthanded reliever in game 3, but I'd rather Northrup get hurt than a real starter... GO FREEDOM!!!!